The Milwaukee Brewers currently have a 3-0 series lead over the Tampa Bay Rays in the best-of-seven World Series, meaning that the series could end as soon as Tuesday night.

Once the World Series ends, the 2027 MLB league year will get rolling for the Seattle Mariners.

The minute the World Series ends, the pending free agents will exit the Mariners' 40-man roster. That includes Randy Arozarena, Taylor Ward, JP Crawford, and Hoby Milner. The Mariners will have five days to exclusively negotiate with those players before free agency opens in full.

The MLB lockout is expected to hit on Dec. 2, meaning that the business of baseball be halted. Teams will have about one month to work in free agency, and while some teams will probably be aggressive in getting deals done, others will probably hang back and see what the financial situation looks like on the other side of the lockout.

As a result, free agency is going to be extremely hard to predict, but former MLB executive Jim Bowden took a shot on Tuesday, putting out his 40-best free agents ahead of the offseason.

While he did not include specific team predictions, he did include "best fits" for each player, as well as contract predictions. Again, contract predictions are probably futile because of the lockout, but they are still noteworthy.

Arozarena had a great year in 2026, hitting .281 with a .381 on-base percentage. He had 26 homers, 79 RBIs and 26 steals, earning himself a second All-Star selection in as many years.

I expect the Mariners to offer him a qualifying offer, which he'll turn down, but I don't expect the Mariners to be in the bidding for him on the open market. He's 31 years old and has questions about both his attitude and his defense.

Someone will pay him, but I don't think it will be the Mariners. I also think this deal is too rich in both years and money, though I could see him getting four-years and $100 million from someone.

Ward was brought in at the trade deadline to help the Mariners' problems against left-handed pitching and it just didn't happen. He hit only .125 with Seattle in 32 games, hitting no homers, stealing no bases and bringing in just seven runs.

He has a track record of success, but he's about to be 33 years old. He'll find a home in 2027, but this deal seems rich - unless it happens before the lockout.

Crawford, closing in on 32 years old, isn't the same defender he was when he won the Gold Glove in 2020, but he does offer the ability to play both short and third, so this deal doesn't seem too farfetched. In addition, he's still got an excellent eye at the plate, as evidenced by his .335 on-base percentage. He was on the injured list three times this season, but still hit 14 homers in just 116 games. He has something offer a team, and I still think he could be back with the Mariners, though I think they'd likely sign him to a one-year guaranteed deal.